Nothing More
by bravelittlebird
Summary: In an interesting twist of fate Eric and Presto are separated from the rest of their group after being attacked by Venger's forces! The two of them must make haste and find their companions, but a curious riddle hints at what else they have to find. (Eric/Presto)


It had become quite apparent in the weeks, perhaps months, maybe even years that the intrepid adventurers had been away from home that the world they now inhabited was really quite dangerous. The native flora and fauna (which were occasionally indistinguishable from each other) certainly had a hand in this danger, but just as frequently it was because of their own mishaps and mistakes. The magical items gifted to them by the mystical, cryptic, and ever infuriating Dungeon Master played a roll of their own. This roll was not always detrimental to the youth's survival, but they had their own dangers associated with them. If these items were to fall into the hands of Venger, the terrifying Arch-Mage, rival to Tiamat, and all around great source of evil, there was almost no telling what would happen. (What _would_ happen, however, was apparently nothing. He had successfully stolen the adventurer's items before but had failed to actually do anything with them before the group retrieved their items, more or less unscathed.)

Apart from the threat of Venger, the artifacts were really quite useful. Hank's intensely magical bow seemed capable of almost anything under the four suns. Diana's javelin, though only capable of growing and shrinking, was wielded with incredible skill. Bobby's club seemed capable of smashing through anything, Sheila's cloak of invisibility caused infinite confusion with their foes, and Eric's shield had yet to fail in deflecting something. And then there was Presto's hat. It wasn't that his hat wasn't useful, quite the contrary, it had saved them a great many times. It was just that his hat often times did not behave in ways he expected it to. The damn thing was occasionally far too literal, and sometimes not literal enough, and sometimes didn't make a lick of sense. Once he'd even discovered that simply putting it over the head of one of his group's foes had been far more effective than pulling anything out of it. It was a curious item, a wondrous item, and it had caused him no end of grief.

Not that he did the bulk of the complaining about it.

No, that position was reserved for the ever griping cavalier, Eric, who always seemed to have something to say about Presto's magic. In fact, he seemed to have something to say about everything, much to the dismay of his friends and companions. Despite his complaints, the clownish cavalier was usually quick to encourage Pesto to try his hand at the hat's wild magic. He was, of course just as quick to become enraged with the results and deny he had ever thought it to be a good idea. It would be quite the day when this cycle was finally broken, and quite the adventure as well.

"Come on, Presto! I can only hold them off for so long!" Eric nearly yelped, bashing his shield against one of the orcs, managing to send it recoiling backwards. The cavalier stood protectively (perhaps reluctantly) in front of his friend, shaking in his heavy, metal boots. A faint glow emanated from his shield, illuminating the corner of the cavern he and the magician occupied. "Make with the magic!"

"I'm trying, I'm trying!" The magician called back, holding onto his hat with shaking hands. Sheila had already been grabbed and her cloak of invisibility was torn off, now held in the meaty hand of one of the Orcs. Hank had been knocked out cold, his bow in the hands of another hulking creature, but Bobby and Diana were still holding strong. Venger's shadow demon swooped among them, directing orcs, and making the occasional swipe at the adventurer's magical items.

It had been an ambush - if it hadn't been for Eric waking at the sound of the approaching Orcs, they might not have stood much of a chance. Not that they really did now. The hoard was too big, and seemed to grow with every passing moment, more and more of Venger's men piling into the cave. They were backed into their refuge, their resting place, slowly getting pushed farther and farther in. They had been safe here in these caves, high up in the cold mountains for so long. They all knew that Venger would find them eventually, but none of them had expected this much of a force. There were too many of the creatures to bypass, hardly enough room to breath let alone fight. Sheila had tried to slip by, but they were packed together tighter than a can of sardines, standing shoulder to shoulder with one another. No one was getting out, but more and more Orcs kept coming in, making the cave feel smaller, more claustrophobic with each growling, snorting breath.

"Stop trying, start doing!" Eric shouted as one of the beasts jabbed downwards at the horrified magician, only to find its blade blocked by the glowing shield.

Never one to let fear get the better of him, Bobby fought right in the thick of the creatures, swinging his club almost madly, calling out to his sister, unaware of Presto trying to work his magic. He threw any Orc that was foolhardy enough to think they could disarm him, sending them flying into the hoard. Uni, his ever faithful unicorn companion meeped and wailed behind him, making vaguely human like sounds. She cowered behind him, but he held strong, protecting his beloved pet. It seemed that whenever he knocked down one, two more would spring up, and soon enough the young barbarian and his unicorn were lifted off their feet, into the arms of the creatures. But still he swung his club, and still he tried to fight. His sister called out to him, squirming and fighting against her captor whose only reply was a cackling growl.

"A-Abra-Kadabra...err...no...no...Ah! Look out!"

Another blade jabbed towards the Cavalier, too fast for him to catch with his shield. The harsh sound of metal on metal rang through the air, a frightened and pained yelp tore from Eric's lips. Before the cavalier could try to flee, a vibrant, green javelin cracked the assaulting Orc across its snout, sending it stumbling back. Diana swung her weapon with expertise, balancing on the shoulders of Orcs (as was the only way to actually get anywhere in the cavern.) Despite the acrobat's speed and prowess, it was only a matter of time before her ankle was grabbed by a thick, green hand and she was brought to the ground.

"_Ahh_! Presto, get a move on!" Eric cried, his gauntleted hand flying to where he had been struck.

"A-A-Abra...Abra..." The magician stammered, trying to both evade the blades and hands of Orcs while still focusing on his magic.

"Presto, hurry up!"

"Abraka...AHH! I can't focus!" Presto backed farther into the corner, Eric standing in front of him, once more brandishing his sheild.

"There's too many of them!" Came the shaky voice of the cavalier.

"_Bobby_! Put my brother down!" Sheila's voice tore across the room

"A-Alakazam... Alaka..."

"My javelin! You're going to pay for that!" Cackling and grunting nearly drowned out Diana's threat.

"_Meeeeeeeeh_!" Uni bleated, thrashing against the Orc's strong arms.

"Aaagh! Abraka-"

"Get your hands off my sister!" Bobby kicked and struggled against the Orcs, to no avail. "You better not hurt Uni!"

"Presto! Hurry up!"

"_Finally! My master will have your weapons!_" The Shadow hissed, its voice dripping with pride.

"Abra-"

"Sheila!" Bobby wailed.

"Hank! No! Where are they taking Hank!" Diana Shouted.

"_You pathetic children!_" The shadow hissed.

"Bobby!" Sheila cried.

"Presto, _hurry up_!" Eric commanded.

"Abraka... ka... _Just get us somewhere safe_!"

And all of a sudden everything was very quiet, but far colder than before.

There was no more heavy breathing of Orcs, no more cave wall pressed to the magician's back. Said wall was, however, quickly replaced by a falling sensation, followed by sudden pain spreading through the back of the his head. Stars danced through his vision, glasses flying from his face. With nothing supporting them, Eric had toppled backwards, taking Presto down with him. They both took a moment, laying in the cold, trying to collect their bearings. Cold... It was devilishly cold. The icy air pierced their lungs like needles, making each gasping breath a challenge. Presto closed his eyes and clenched his hand, grabbing a fist full of something wet, and melting. Snow. They were laying in the snow.

"Uuff...Eric... Eric, get up, we need to find the others..." Presto groaned, making a weak attempt at pushing the cavalier off of himself.

"Ugh...Where...Where are we?" Eric rolled off of his friend, bringing himself face first into the snow. "Jesus, that's cold!"

"Go figure... Can you see any of the others?" Presto rose to his knees, slowly, numbly sifting around in the snow, trying to find his glasses.

"No... No, but I don't see any Orcs, either. Ohhh, Presto, what did your stupid hat do?!"

"It got us out of there, that's what it did! And there aren't any Orcs, now are there?" Snow. Snow. Snow. Fear started to rise like bile in the back of the magician's throat, he was lost without his glasses.

"No, but also no friends. What if they got taken away WITH the Orcs? What if your hat thought you meant only you and me?" Eric went on, and Presto continued to sift. Snow. Snow. Snow. He could feel his fingers numbing as he searched.

"Why would it think I meant only you and me? That's just-"

"It doesn't matter why it would, alright! But what if it did! We could be stranded out here!"

"Yeah, and we were dead meat back there. Listen, we'll find everyone else, but first I need to find my glasses - I could get lost in a _closet_ without them!" Snow. Snow. Snow. Snow... Shoes? Red shoes. Tiny red shoes, poking out from under a tiny red robe. It was him.

"Magician. Cavalier." The wizened voice of Dungeon Master began in the same peppy tone he always used. "It seems that the two of you have lost your way."

"Dungeon Master! I-"

"LISTEN HERE, YOU." Presto felt himself moved aside by a very cold, gauntleted hand.

"Oh no. Eric-"

"Don't you DARE come to us now, this is no time for riddles, old man."

"Eric, really, maybe we shouldn't yell at him, he's always been there to help-"

"Like HELL he has! I'm sick of his riddles and disappearing acts! He's been next to no help except for sending us on wild goose chases that never actually end up sending us home!"

"I don't really think this is the time to argue-"

"Now is the perfect time to argue! We may not get another chance! Because, god forbid, the all mighty Dungeon Master actually give us any aid-"

"Eric, please-"

"-Or food-"

"-I'm really sorry, it's just been a long day-"

"-Or shelter-"

"-There were Orcs-"

"-Or anything other than a damned riddle-"

"-And my hat sent us here-"

"-That only ever ends up getting us-"

"-And we're lost and we're-"

"-In Trouble." The two adventurers concluded in unison, much to the surprise, and perhaps relief, of the gnome like man before them. Eric seemed out of breath, too angry to say much anything else, though if he could muster up anything it would most likely be vulgarities. Presto, on the other hand, looked as though he was about to start apologizing for his companion's behavior. Dungeon Master cut him off before he had the chance.

"Now, now, Magician... Cavalier. I have come to tell you that your friends are safe - the magic of the hat sent them far, far away, just as it did with the two of you."

"Oh, yeah, far, far away. That's real descripti-"

"_Eric_."

"Fear not, Cavalier. Your friends are also safe, though they're far away from you, as well as Venger's forces." Dungeon Master continued, apparently unfazed by Eric's outburst. "But you cannot stay here for long - this is a land riddled with strange magic, and much change."

"Tell us something we don't know..."

"Where are we supposed to go, then?" Presto frowned in Eric's general direction, elbowing him in the side (and quickly regretting it, thanks to his armor.) "...And have you seen my glasses?"

"Oh, dear Magician, you'll not need your eyes to see on this quest. Look with your heart, open your mind, and look to each other when you feel there's nothing more."

"What on EARTH is that supposed to mean?" Eric nearly exploded with anger, stomping and turning around, just about ready to tear at his own hair. "We're stranded, in the tundra of all goddamn places, and you sound like you're a goddamn motivational poster! Oh, great, that's just great! Surely, THAT will save us from the wild and untamed outdoors!"

"Eric, I don't think that this is the tundra-"

"_THAT IS NOT THE POINT, PRESTO_."

"Okay, okay! Jeeze, I just - Hey! Where'd Dungeon Master go?"

"I don't know. I don't care. Let's just get out of this cold - I swear my toes are freezing off."

"Can we at least try to find my glasses fi-"

And that's when in the midst of Eric's stomping and shouting, the world went just silent enough to allow the sound of shattering to ring clear.

"..."

"..."

"Were those my..."

"Uh...Yeah...Looks like it."

"..."

"Err...Sorry...Seems like it, I meant seems like it! Uh... maybe... maybe we _should_ focus on getting out of the cold..."

Thus, with Eric's rage subdued and Presto's panic on the rise, the Cavalier lead the Magician through snow and the cold. They waded through the frigid land until their teeth chattered like fine china in an earthquake, until Presto's fingers were nearly frozen to Eric's cape. They wandered between drifts of snow up to their knees and hills of ice well above Eric's head, stumbling towards a massive mountain, the only landmark on the otherwise barren landscape. It wasn't much, but it was better than nothing. After what felt like an eternity of walking, they reached the foot of the mountain, just as the day was slipping away into late afternoon.

The two of them looked woefully up the grey, icy slopes (or, more accurately, Eric gazed up while Presto squinted,) neither one of them looking forward to the climb. After some discussion, it was decided that a little magic may well help them on their way. The first of a few failed attempts produced a small, quizzical creature that climbed the mountain (as per the spell uttered "abracadabra, abracaloutin, get us something to climb up this mountain.") A pot of climbing ivy was produced next, and a bit of rope after that. It was only when the world had welcomed dusk to its skies that the hat finally produce two pairs of metal cleated shoes. The climb upwards a trial on its own for the already weary adventurers, but it was not without reward. Finally, after all their climbing and walking through the (more so than usual) unfamiliar place, they found a cave to rest in. Not that they had the greatest experiences with caves. Not that they had much of a choice.

But before they could rest, there was one last task for Presto's magical hat. They needed something to keep them warm. It took a bit of time, and much concentration, but the components to make a fire, including wood, were soon produced, much to the joy and surprise of the adventurers. Under any other circumstance, Eric would have insisted that his companion go about setting up the fire and all else, but given his current state of sightlessness, the cavalier relented. With his heavy, cumbersome gauntlets it took him some time to actually get a spark going, and even then his green clad companion had to instruct him on how to keep the fire alive. As Eric fumbled over the process of starting a fire, Presto briefly wondered how the cavalier would have faired if he'd been stuck out here alone. As he watched, or attempted to watch Eric tend to the fire, he guessed it wouldn't have been very long. He quickly pushed the thought away, more upset than he first realized by the thought of Eric perishing in this world. The small flames grew larger and snow was piled up around the edge of the cave in a weak attempt to keep out the cold.

Then, it came time to sleep... Almost.

Oddly enough, it was Presto who laid his head down first on the cold, unforgiving surface of the cave. His fingertips clung to the sleeves of his robes as he curled up, trying to stay as warm as possible which, as it turns out, was not very warm at all. He let his eyes close, and nearly allowed sleep envelop him, but then the sound of metal on stone caught his attention. It occurred to him, very suddenly, that he'd never seen Eric sleep outside of his armor. Normally this would be of no great concern to him, but he found himself more than a little worried for his companion. Even with the fire going, it couldn't be good for him to be sleeping in what was, essentially, a tin can in weather like this. That was when he was struck with an idea.

"Eric?" The magician ventured, sitting up and looking to what, he assumed, was his friend.

"Whaddya want, Presto? Cantcha see I'm trying to sleep?" Terribly tired murmurs came from a vaguely Eric shaped blur. The sound of clanging filled the cave as the cavalier tried to make himself comfortable.

"Uh, well, it's just that... You're going to freeze if you try to sleep in your armor."

"I am not, I've slept in it before..."

"Yeah, but not in weather like this. It's way too cold for that."

"Oh, yeah, and I'll just put on my parka instead - what else am I gonna wear? I don't have a nice, cozy dress to sleep in, now do I?"

"_Robe_. It's a robe, and it's not that warm."

"Whatever."

"Okay look, neither of us are going to be more than popsicles if we don't bundle up- and by bundle up I mean in something that ISN'T made of metal."

"Alright, genius, then what do you propose? We don't exactly have anything not metal - apart from my cape, and there's only one of it."

"Well...We could share it."

There was a pause. A strange, anxious sort of tension seemed to exude from Eric, covering every inch of the cave in a matter of moments.

"Uh, we could what?" The cavalier ventured, as though he hadn't heard, or believed what Presto had said.

"We could share it. Eric - it is way too cold to risk it. I don't want to see either of us get frostbite, or anything worse. Come over here and I'll help you out of your armor."

The surprisingly logical side of Eric told himself that this was, in fact, the best course of action, and that there was little chances of survival otherwise. His ego, however, was fighting hard against it. What had been proposed was absolutely ludicrous, and something that he just couldn't do. He'd do so well at hiding it away, at ignoring it all for so long. He wasn't going to let some stupid, godforsaken life or death situation make him give up the goat now.

It was in that moment, that one glorious moment, that he realized how foolish that actually sounded.

For the first time in conceivable history, Eric relented to logic rather than his own sense of self importance and moved closer to Presto, already taking off his gauntlets. Between the nearly blind magician, and the suddenly clumsy cavalier, it took them quite some time to actually get the gold coloured armor off. It was, however, managed with as little bumps and bruises as possible, and soon it was time for the two of them to rest. No matter what his ego had told him previously, Eric found himself in nothing more than the thin, ochre coloured shirt and plain brown pants that he wore under his armor. This alone was embarrassing, but it was nothing compared to the almost deafening pounding of his heart as Presto laid his head down on one of the cavalier's arms, pulling their bodies close together. It was a matter of moments before the magician drifted into slumbers, eager to leave the trials of the day behind, but Eric found himself in a state of wakeful terror.

As the cavalier lay on the cave floor, one of his dear friends cradled in his arms, he tried to remind himself why they were doing this. It was for survival, nothing more. After all, what else could it be for? Absolutely nothing, that's what. _Absolutely_ nothing. Even with his ego berating him, Eric eventually drifted into a restless (albeit warm) sleep. Dreams of home met the adventurers with open arms, families coming to greet them, their normal lives just where they'd left off. Well, not exactly where they'd left it... But it wasn't anything either of them had felt the need to bring up in conversation. No, of course not. It was of too little consequence to be bothered with. Their dreams were just that, dreams. Nothing important. Sleep held them until dawn started reaching its slender fingers through the mouth of the cave, covering everything in a soft golden light.

It was the absence of his friend in his arms that caused Eric to rise, suddenly feeling his bare hand touch the stone floor. He bolted right up to his feet, realizing very suddenly that he was without his armor, that he was unprotected and at the wrath of whatever may be in their cave. Being the practiced coward that he was, the cavalier's mind quickly turned to panic, assuming that Presto had been grabbed by another hoard of Orcs, or maybe Bullywugs. No, probably Orcs. No... No wait... Maybe... No. Yes. Definitely Orcs. Presto had been grabbed and now they were going to take him, and this time there'd certainly be no escape-

"Uhh... Eric, what are you doing?"

Eric looked down. Presto was unharmed and sitting on the cave floor, squinting up at the cavalier.

"Oh, I, uh. I'm just..." Eric started to stumble over his words, cheeks going pink just as they always did when he was caught off guard. He was very suddenly very grateful for Presto's lack of glasses.

"You seem really jumpy." Dusting himself off, Presto got to his feet. A small smile played across his lips and Eric could feel more blood rushing to his face.

"I'm not jumpy! I, just, uhh. I had a bad dream is all. Yeah, yeah that's it." Oh god, why did he have to mention his dreams?

"Well, no matter, we really need to get going. I'm not really looking forward to going out in the cold again but..." And all of a sudden, Presto paused. "...Hey Eric?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you feel cold?"

He felt anything but cold right about then. His face was on fire and his heart was beating a mile a minute. He was fairly certain he could boil ice water if he touched it. He could've made a volcano look like a kiddy pool. It took him a moment, but after some thought Eric realized what Presto was saying.

"...No. I don't. But it was..."

"It was freezing in here last night."

With steps far lighter thanks to his lack of armor, Eric trod towards the mouth of the cave to be greeted by an absolutely stunning sight. As they slept, the entire land had changed, revived to a place of sprawling green. The valley that stretched out from the mountain was dusted with flowers of every imaginable hue, dancing in between grass blades that swayed in the wind. It was like watching some fantastical sea, something so perfect and beautiful and untouched by any of the other disasters in this land. In the back of his mind, however, Eric was already thinking of ways to say that his mother's garden was better than this. Thinking of them, but some small part of his heart told the cavalier to let the moment be, to let himself observe what little beauty was here while it lasted.

"As much as I hate to say it," He began as the magician stumbled his way over to the cave's entrance, putting a hand on Eric's shoulder once he reached the mouth of the cave, "Dungeon Master was right... This has got to be magic, and this was... quite the change."

"It's all so green, and...uhh... green." Presto squinted as he too looked out from the cave.

"Well, yeah, of course it is, you du-Oh. Yeah. You still can't see." Eric paused. "Y'know... Things don't look so dangerous now... and it's not so cold. Maybe you should try pulling some glasses out of your hat before things get less pleasant."

"You sure, Eric? I mean, it's a good thought, but I usually pull out some fairly dangerous stuff..."

"...Let me put my armor on, first. Then try your hat."

"That's what I thought... You're going to need help getting into it, aren't you?" Presto inquired, remembering how difficult it was to get him out of the damned stuff - it must be twice as hard trying to get back in on your own. At first Eric refused, but Presto turned out to be quite insistent. After some fumbling and more bruising than it took to take it off, the cavalier was armored once more.

"Alright... Eric, I know I said it was a good idea to put on your armor..." Presto began, arms folded as he watched the newly armored cavalier.

"...But?" His companion prompted, his tone implying that he wasn't certain where the magician was going with this.

"But I really don't think you need to go about cowering like that!" He gestured at Eric, really quite exasperated

"I think I do." Eric said and brought his shield up a little more in front of his face, a tiny tuft of dark hair was all to be seen of him from behind the artifact. "A-And it's not cowering! It's taking up a defensive position! Go ahead and try your dumb hat, already."

With a bit of sighing and grumbling, Presto reached his hand into his hat, focusing on the magic power within. Closing his eyes and taking a deep breath, he started on his incantations. "Abracadabra, Abraca-"

"Wait! Stop. Just. Stop." The cavalier suddenly interrupted, lowering his shield.

"Oh, what now, Eric?"

"Haven't you noticed what happens when you try and do that Abracadabra mumbo-jumbo? You never get your spell right!"

"The spells are all pretty random Eric, it's hard to-"

"No, really, hear me out on this - remember how you got us here? You just said 'Get us somewhere safe.' Nothing else. But when we were trying to climb the mountain and you kept making up those goofy rhymes, we kept getting the wrong thing!"

"You sure that getting teleported here was the _right_ thing?"

"Listen, all I'm saying is that this was someplace _safe_ - we haven't run into anything, have we?" The cavalier gestured around the cave which, although mostly unseen by the magician, was free of any dangers. "No, we haven't. We found shelter almost right away and there haven't been any monsters around, now have there?"

"Yeah, but it separated us from our friends!"

"Maybe that's the safest thing! I mean, now Venger can't get all our weapons at once, right?"

"I guess..." Presto frowned, scrunching his nose. He began rolling up his sleeves, sighing to himself and shaking his head. "I don't think it'll work... But fine, we can give it a try."

"You never know - maybe you just, uh, need to be direct." The cavalier brought the shield up in front of his face once more, anticipating... something happening. "Okay, go ahead."

"Alright... Abra...err... Summon me a pair of glasses!" The magician commanded, swirling his hand above his hat, gentle light and scintillating colours exuding from the artifact. Like a child ripping off a bandaid, he shoved his hand into the hat and drew it out quickly, clutching something in his hand. When he opened his eyes, the lights had faded and... Lo and behold, there were a pair of rounded glasses in the palm of his hand.

"I-Is...Is it over?" Eric meekly asked from behind his shield.

"Yeah... And you'll never guess what happened." Presto beamed, putting on his new glasses.

"W-What?" Lowering his shield, the cavalier was greeted by the sight of his friend, grinning away with a new pair of glasses set upon his nose. "Well, I'll be..."

"They're the wrong prescription, everything's still a little blurry... But they'll do for now. We should try to cover as much ground as we can before... something changes." Presto made his way to the mouth of the cave, hat set firmly atop his head. "C'mon, let's get going!"

"Presto, wait! It's bound to be-" Eric called out as his companion set foot outside the cave... and with his first step slipped and fell, sliding down the side of the mountain. "...Slippery. Stupid...Wizard..."

With just about as much grace as the magician before him, Eric descended the slope, ending up, inevitably in a heap at the mountain's foot. This, alas, knocked over Presto, who had just managed to get to his feet. Now covered in more mud and dirt than before (and possibly grass stains, as well, not that they were noticeable on his green robes) he once more rose to his feet, offering Eric a hand up, who promptly waved it away. He let his companion stumble to is gold booted, though now quite muddy feet. Just as any field in spring time, the ever sprawling beauty that was the grass and flowers concealed a shockingly muddy ground. Presto started mentally preparing himself for Eric's complaints, but he was then caught off guard by a surprisingly simple question. No, not even a question, just a statement.

"So, uh... Everything looks the same."

Everything from the foot of the mountain onwards was fields of green, dotted with flowers of a thousand different hues. As Presto looked around, he realized just why this part of this world was dangerous. It looked like you could walk for days, maybe even weeks before seeing any landmark but the mountain they had spent the night on.

"Oh. I. Uh. Oh." the magician rubbed the back of his neck, looking around. "I...uh... What...What do we do?"

"...I think." Eric began, stepping forward into the leaderly position he always seemed to crave, "We walk."

And so, they walked.


End file.
